The Minister's Manipulation: (An Alpha Alien Romance Novel)

by Liza Probz

  Jamie let out a scream of fright that sent a torrent of rage through Drake. How dare the creature touch his mate? Without thinking, his bioenergy flowed through him and he shot a charge at the Hareema touching Jamie.

  The blast hit its target, but nothing happened. They’d already been upgraded, it seemed.

  Meanwhile, the other Cargraves took the opportunity to leap on his back. Drake tried to grab his shoulders to pull him off, but the shapeshifter used his abilities to evade Drake’s grip.

  The other Cargraves was standing, grabbing Jamie more securely and hauling her towards him. Drake let out a bellow of anger, the thought of his mate being accosted driving him near mad.

  Suddenly the creature behind him let out a scream of pain. One moment it was on his back, a Hareema in the shape of Cargraves bent on taking him down. The next moment he was an explosion of red jelly, splattering all over the room and then disintegrating into a sick gray puddle.

  “What the fuck?” the other Cargraves yelled, releasing Jamie and rushing towards Drake.

  A series of commanding bleeps came from behind him and Drake made a split second decision. He turned so that his back was facing the rushing Cargraves, and in the next moment there was another scream.

  Then, another explosion of red jelly.

  “Herman!” Jamie yelled jubilantly. “You got them!”

  “But how?” Drake asked, cocking his head over his shoulder to look at the robot strapped to his back. “My bioelectricity did nothing.”

  “While on your ship I scanned your bioelectric properties. I realized you were able to emit a rotating charge. I postulated that if I reversed the rotation of the charge and emitted a blast, I might be able to affect them.”

  “Affect them,” Jamie laughed. “You blew them away!”

  Lakewood came forward, patting Herman affectionately. “Your conclusion was correct, Herman. In fact, I purposefully left that vulnerability in when I was forced to help them adjust their physiology to counter the Zantharian weapon.”

  Drake shook his head in wonder. It seemed they now had a secret weapon against the shifters. Now they just had to get them off the base and into Zantharian hands.

  “We need to move,” he said. “If anyone was watching, they’ll be on their way here.”

  He led the group to the door. “Herman, you stay ready to blast when I give you the word. We’re going back to the ship.”

  “Wait,” Jamie said, tugging on his arm. “What about the rebel agent? We’ve got to get him out of here, remember.”

  “No time for that. We have a new plan, getting the four of us off this damn base and back to Zanthar safely.”

  Jamie shook her head. “No. We still need to contact the rebel factions. We should stick to our original plan.”

  “I don’t have time to argue, Jamie,” he said, trying to stay calm. “They’re going to be coming for us as soon as they realize what’s happened.”

  “Then Herman can blast them to smithereens. But I’m not leaving until we rescue at least one more prisoner.”

  Drake debated picking her up and carrying her out bodily, but he needed his hands free for fighting. Then he looked closely into her face. There was sorrow there, and guilt.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, her pain a physical blow to his guts.

  “There are so many creatures trapped here. We can’t leave them all to these bastards. Please.”

  Drake appreciated the tenderness she displayed, even at the most inopportune time. Still, she’d insisted that he take her with him and that had been the right decision. Should he trust her instincts?

  “I agree with Jamie,” Herman piped up. “The rebel agent is still valuable to us.”

  “Right,” Drake said. If the two of them thought they should stick to the plan, then he wasn’t going to argue. “If we’re doing this, we have to go now.”

  “According to the data from Thompson’s computer, the agent is being held in high security near the center of the complex.”

  “Just give me directions,” Drake said. “And be ready to run.”

  Chapter 21

  Jamie jogged down the corridor behind Drake, Lakewood only a step behind her. So far they’d received a couple of strange looks but there had been no sign of alarm. She didn’t know how far they’d get before someone discovered that Lakewood had been sprung, but she was determined to do her part to rescue the rebel agent from his Hareema captors.

  “Take the second left,” Herman directed, and Drake complied. “The high security area should be through the next set of doors.”

  Drake took the door at a run, clearly wanting to keep the element of surprise. As they tumbled into the chamber, seven figures turned to stare at them. Six of them were outside of the cage in the center of the room, and one was inside it.

  They were all different shapes and sizes. One resembled a human, another two were green-tinted Zantharian males. Then there was a creature that was seven feet tall and equipped with an extra arm. The other two guards were squat creatures with skin like rock.

  Inside the cage composed of some kind of electrical shielding, a six-foot-tall block of red jelly wobbled in interest.

  There was an immediate response to their entry. The six Hareema surrounding the cage came forward. “What is Lakewood doing out of his cell?” one asked.

  Another came up from the other side. “And what are you doing imitating a Zantharian male in the throes of the mating frenzy?”

  Mating frenzy. Those words sent a shock through her. Is that why his skin had turned black?

  Drake struck out at the nearest guard, hitting hard and fast. The guard dropped, but another took his place. “Jamie, get back,” he growled at her, and she obeyed, moving back towards the door.

  She watched at Drake became a blur, fighting for all he was worth. It was sexy, how physically accomplished he was. An excellent fighter, he was holding his own against six of the enemy. But he couldn’t hold out for long, because they didn’t stay down for long.

  “Use Herman!” she yelled, and Drake shifted, ripping off his pack and tossing it to the floor. Herman rolled out, taking aim at the closest shapeshifter. There was a flash, and the creature exploded, red goo flying everywhere.

  The other shifters moved back, obviously frightened by their secret weapon. Drake continued the fight, driving the shifters towards Herman who was rolling around on his own, taking aim. There were two more flashes. Two more Hareema were destroyed in explosions of jelly.

  Only three guards remained. The one impersonating a human rushed towards a console, and Jamie realized he was about to send out an alarm. She ran forward and slammed into him, knocking him off course.

  The shifter grabbed her around the neck, his arm becoming a red tentacle that gripped her so tightly around the throat that she could barely breathe.

  She saw another flash. Another Hareema down. Drake grabbed the last one, a guard with rock skin, and decked him, knocking him to the floor. Herman rolled close and ran a charge through it.

  When the creature exploded, Herman ended up covered in goo.

  Jamie struggled, trying to pull herself out of the grip of the final guard. “Help!” she managed to wheeze.

  There was a roar from across the room. Drake had caught sight of her predicament. “Let her go!” he roared.

  “So you can blast me with that fucking thing? I don’t think so.” The guard took a step backwards, towards the console. “Keep that ball away from me or she gets it.”

  “You’ll fucking regret this,” Drake growled through gritted teeth.

  “She’s your mate, right,” the Hareema asked. “I’ll fucking kill her if you get any closer. And if she’s dead, you’re dead too.”

  Jamie’s eyes widened. She did the math, adding together Herman’s revelation earlier with the Hareema’s words. The mating frenzy would kill Drake somehow.

  The creature continued to back up while Drake watched with fury in his eyes. Jamie continued to struggle but it was useless. Her e
yes pleaded with Drake not to do anything foolish, but she could tell by the strain in his expression that he was barely holding back his rage.

  They were almost to the console when it happened. While the Hareema had been concentrating on her and Drake, he’d forgotten about Dr. Lakewood. The scientist had worked his way behind him, and now he’d knelt on hands and knees behind the guard. In a parody of a child’s prank, he caused the guard to fall over backwards.

  In the fall, the guard lost his grip on Jamie. She rolled away, popping up to see that Lakewood had also scrambled away. Drake was on the guard in a second, and he showed no mercy. Jamie watched as Drake pummeled the creature in its face, over and over, with such force that after the third blow, the Hareema began to lose form, shifting into jelly.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Drake grunted, rising to stomp the creature’s face. Over and over he landed his blows until the jelly lost shape again, turning black and leaving only a sickly puddle.

  “Don’t you ever touch my mate,” Drake growled, breathing heavily.

  Jamie stared at him, her heart beating so hard in her chest she thought it might burst out of her ribcage. She’d just seen him beat a man to death for threatening his mate. The feelings were confusing and overwhelming.

  Unfortunately, now was not the time to dwell on things. Her eyes shifted to Lakewood who was examining the controls on the console. He pushed a few buttons experimentally, searching for the right combination to drop the shielding around the Hareema prisoner.

  “I’m not familiar with these controls,” he said. “I don’t even know the language.”

  Drake joined him at the console. “We just have to try different combinations until we find the right one.”

  “We may set off an alarm in the process, or get locked out of the console before we discover the override.”

  Jamie bit her lip in concern. They were sitting ducks in this room. It wouldn’t be long until someone discovered them.

  Herman rolled closer to the shielding, lights flashing along his surface. “Dr. Lakewood,” he said. “I believe this shielding works on the same principle as Zantharian bioelectricity. If I hit it with a charge of reverse rotating current, it may bring the shielding down.”

  “So stop talking about it and do it,” Drake shouted.

  “The charge will have to be very large,” Herman warned. “It will deplete my battery such that I will not be able to discharge another charge.”

  So if he frees the prisoner, we’ll lose our secret weapon. Jamie frowned, looking at the wobbling jelly inside the cage. Even though it didn’t have a face to speak of, she could still feel the waves of suffering coming off of it.

  “Do it,” she said.

  Herman gave an answering beep, then discharged the current. There was a massive flash as the currents entangled, then the light went out. The shield was down.

  The block of jelly transformed, immediately taking the shape of a familiar face.

  “Sylvie,” Jamie whispered.

  “Thank you for freeing me,” the creature who wore her sister’s face said. “Although I do not know who you are or why you seek to save me.”

  “Do you work for the resistance?” Drake demanded.

  The Sylvie-creature nodded. “Yes.”

  “Then we need you.”

  Lakewood spoke. “We must move if we are going to have a remote chance of getting out of here. As it is, I find it highly unlikely that we’ll be able to get to a ship to escape.”

  Herman whistled in agreement. “Even if we do reach a ship, the probability of getting out of Hareema space without being recaptured by enemy ships is .001%.”

  Drake growled. “Fuck. We have no weapons, and our disguise is completely blown. How in the twelve levels of hell are we going to get off this base?”

  Jamie ran a shaky hand through her hair. There was no way they’d get out without something else to distract the Hareema. A problem so big they’d have to ignore the five of them to deal with it.

  An idea so brilliant entered her mind that for a moment, she couldn’t believe she’d thought of it.

  “Do any of you know where the master control room is for the central prison cells?”

  Four sets of eyes stared at her, and Herman’s lights flashed inquiringly.

  “If we can find that room, I think we can create a diversion to get us out of here.”

  Chapter 22

  Drake poked his head around the corner, on the lookout for Hareema. The corridor was empty, so he led his party down the hall. He was trying with every ounce of his strength to remain calm, but he had to admit that he’d never been more keyed up.

  When he’d seen that creature with his tentacle around Jamie’s throat, he’d never been more frightened, more enraged. When he’d stomped the asshole to death, it had felt right. He didn’t think he could have stopped himself from killing the creature, even if he wanted to.

  He looked down at the small female by his side. She knew, now, about the frenzy, and she’d seen him murder the creature who had threatened her. Although she was still devoted to accomplishing their mission, Drake didn’t think there was any way she’d accept him after this.

  Their relationship had barely started, and already he was trying to claim her for life. If they made it off the Hareema base alive, she would probably be excited to say goodbye.

  He wondered which would kill him first, the frenzy, or his broken heart.

  They reached the entrance to the large central room they’d passed through earlier. There were hundreds of cages there, stacked on each other and full of alien creatures captured by the Hareema. The control room was along the far wall.

  Drake took a deep breath and spoke softly. “We need to make it across this room without causing a disturbance.”

  At that exact moment, a loud alarm sounded. Fuck. Perfect timing.

  “They’re on to us,” Lakewood muttered, and Jamie nodded. Drake saw the fear in her eyes and it made his urge to protect her overwhelming. He pulled her closer to him, his head swiveling to keep alert for danger.

  “I have an idea. It’s worked before.”

  Drake turned to the Hareema who’d spoken. The creature nodded to him. “When I helped you escape once before. You remember?”

  So this was the same Hareema rebel who had helped free him when Ontarii and Captain Brooklyn had been captured. “The bubble,” he said with a smile. “It could work.”

  As they looked on, the Hareema formed itself into something resembling a silver bubble. The outer surface was reflective, the inner disguising them entirely. It left a slit in its surface for them to squeeze inside, and then closed around them.

  The confines of the bubble were transparent from the inside so they could see their surroundings. “Now what?” Jamie asked.

  “Now we walk and hope we stay invisible.”

  They walked slowly in silence while the bubble rolled around them. The massive, cage-filled room was full of strange sights and sounds, but Drake refused to be distracted. He kept his eyes on the prize: The control room at the far end of the chamber.

  Suddenly the doors on either side of the room burst open. Guards came pouring in through the chamber, rushing down the central path on which they walked. They were on a collision course with the bubble, and Drake frowned.

  “Quickly,” he whispered, “side step!”

  The bubble rolled between two cages and out of the main thoroughfare just before the group of guards passed by. He let out a big relieved breath and heard it echoed by his companions. Slowly they stepped back on the main path and continued their march towards the control room.

  Jamie looked up at him with her big green eyes. “Are you sure this is the right plan?” she asked. “We could just stay hidden in this bubble thing until we get to your ship.”

  Drake shook his head. “They’d see my ship take off, remember. We need them so distracted that they aren’t able to deal with one little ship.”

  He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and gave her a
smile, putting his arm around her. “It’s a good plan, dear heart, and you’re a genius for coming up with it.”

  She blushed, returning his smile, then went back to concentrating on the control room. It was a small half-circle that came out from the wall and into the central chamber, with entries on either side. Two guards stood inside, keeping their eyes on the multitude of cages.

  “Almost there,” Drake whispered. “When we get inside, we have to keep those two guards back from the controls long enough for our Hareema friend to figure out how to release them.”

  The bubble shook ever so slightly around them as the Hareema rebel acknowledged his words.

  “Herman has no charge, so we can’t fry them. We’ve just got to keep a hold on them.”

  Jamie frowned. “How are we supposed to do that? They’re shape-shifters. They can change into anything. And they’re stronger than me.”

  Dr. Lakewood spoke up. “I have an idea. What about if we create a diversion before our diversion?”

  “What are you talking about?” Drake asked.

  “What if we let Herman out? He can roll in there and distract them, get them to leave the control room long enough for the rebel agent to deactivate the cells.”

  Jamie shrugged. “It’s a better idea than trying to hold them down.”

  Drake nodded. “Fine.” He looked up. “Hey, bubble, let’s halt this thing.”

  The bubble stopped rolling around them within yards of the control room. A small slit opened at the bottom, and Herman moved towards it. “Wish me luck,” the little robot chirped.

  “Good luck,” Jamie said, putting a hand to her lips and miming blowing a kiss.

  Drake’s arm shot out and he mimed intercepting the kiss. “This belongs to me,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes in response but then laughed good-naturedly. “Greedy.”

  “When it comes to you, you know it,” he said, his eyes burning into hers.

  “Okay you lovebirds,” Lakewood said, ruining the moment, “let’s keep an eye on my robot.”